


rebuild all your ruins

by Nokomis



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Friendship, Preemptive Fix-It, Valkyrie is a badass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 08:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16970991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nokomis/pseuds/Nokomis
Summary: “What the hell?” Valkyrie announced, glaring at everyone who had made it to the battle against Thanos. “Why isn’t there anyone for me to hit really, really hard?”“I mean, we can probably find someone for you if you really want,” Bruce said, “but you were late to the party.”





	rebuild all your ruins

**Author's Note:**

> Set after a presumptive death-free Infinity War conclusion. Title from led zeppelin’s immigrant song. Huge thanks and love to Lielabell for the beta!

So the world doesn’t end after all.

Well, it did once, but the Avengers fixed it with what Tony insists on calling “wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey bullshit.” Bruce is ninety percent certain he just does that to make Doctor Strange’s eye twitch, but it makes Spider-Man laugh in a way that makes the whole room seem to perk up, especially Tony himself, so Bruce approves. 

Everyone’s giddy about being alive and whole and gloriously _not dust_ when a familiar spaceship appears on the sky.

Thor lights up. “My people!” 

Bruce saw a few confused looks amongst the various Avengers nearby and gave a quick explanation of Thor’s coronation and subsequent measures to save Asgard’s remaining people from Thanos. He thought about warning them about Valkyrie and, more importantly, Loki, but ultimately decided to just let it be.

Valkyrie strolled off the ship first, heading a crowd of Asgardian refugees, surveying the situation. She looked oddly disappointed for a moment, then Thor swept her into a hug, which erased all disappointment. It was possibly one of Thor’s godly powers.

Bruce waved at her as they walked by, and trailed along afterwards as they headed inside after making arrangements for the Asgardian refugees to stay in Wakanda until Thor figured out where his home would be. 

By the time they got inside, Valkyrie was visibly annoyed. Bruce settled down on a couch, watching her. He had missed her fire. 

“What the hell?” Valkyrie announced, glaring around the room. “Why isn’t there anyone for me to hit really, really hard?”

“I mean, we can probably find someone for you if you really want,” Bruce said, “but you were late to the party.” 

“I arrived in a flash of glory wielding a divine weapon,” Thor told her smugly. “I got to hit lots of things.”

Valkyrie let out a huff. “At least tell me this awful planet has drinks,” she said, striding over to the couch Bruce was resting on and plopping herself down. She poked the bottom of his foot. “Get me one.”

“I just fought a reality-altering battle, and you showed up late,” Bruce said. He nudged her back with his foot. “Get your own drink.”

Valkyrie rolled her eyes, but made no move to get up. Thor brought over a variety of bottles and snacks -- none of the fancy food that had been laid out in anticipation of the victory celebration, but bags of chips that Bruce felt strongly had been imported by Shuri. 

Wakanda had taken an alarming amount of damage in the battles, though a large portion of it had been restored through the time travel nonsense that Bruce was trying very hard not to think too deeply on, but had remained a gracious host to the recovering hoard of heroes. Valkyrie and the Asgardian refugees had landed after the battle had been won, hence her crankiness. 

He’d been happy to see her, though. 

*

“So, this is your shitty homeworld,” Valkyrie said, sitting down beside him. Bruce wasn’t sure how she had found him. The victory celebration was in full swing, but Bruce had slipped out of the party and headed aimlessly down a path in the jungle, ending up in a small clearing that likely was used for practice, judging by the scuff marks in the dirt. He’d settled on the ground, back against a tree, happy to just sit there feeling Earth beneath him. 

He’d never expected to miss a planet so much, so Valkyrie’s comment rolled off him easily. She would never get to sit on her planet again.

“Yeah,” he said. “Welcome to Earth.”

“Such a stunningly original name,” Valkyrie said. She opened the bottle she’d brought with her. Bruce was pretty impressed that she had been on the planet for less than a day and somehow had managed to get her hands on Wakandan liquor. He raised an eyebrow, and she grinned. “The Dora Milaje appreciated my help.”

She took long pulls from the bottle, emptying it rapidly, but Bruce could tell from her frown that the liquor wasn’t hitting nearly as hard as she’d hoped. Even Wakandan booze couldn’t hold up to Asgardian metabolism. 

“I would have thought you’d be at the celebration,” Bruce said. “Thor’s there.”

“I don’t have to follow him around like a lost puppy, just because technically he’s my monarch,” Valkyrie said. She finished off the bottle without having offered him a single drink, and tossed it over her shoulder. Bruce made a mental note to fetch it before he returned to his quarters. They’d just saved the planet, it was tacky to immediately litter.

“I can’t imagine you following anyone around like a lost puppy,” Bruce said. Valkyrie forged her own path in all things; he couldn’t imagine that would change anytime soon. Asgard’s destruction and the end of the world nonsense with Thanos weren’t enough to ruffle her feathers.

“‘Course not, I’m far too aware of how idiotic everyone around me is,” Valkyrie said lightly, but Bruce could tell her heart wasn’t in it.

“I am sorry,” Bruce said, raking his hand through his hair. “About your homeworld.”

“That stupid place? It was awful,” Valkyrie said. “Did you see the architecture? Terrible. And the clothes everyone wore? Even worse.”

“Yeah,” Bruce said. “I mean, it was on fire when I saw it, but it didn’t seem your style.”

“It’s a bit of a relief, really,” Valkyrie said. “A total fresh start. No more running away, there’s nothing to run away from.”

There it was. Bruce reached over to pat her arm, but realized once his hand was midair that Valkyrie wouldn’t appreciate the gesture. “Eventually we all have to stop running.”

“Yeah, big guy, like you know much about running,” Valkyrie said. Her eyes were trained on his hand, and Bruce let it drop back down to his side.

Valkyrie looked almost disappointed. Bruce shook his head; he must be more exhausted than he thought. 

“How do you think I ended up on Sakaar?” he asked. “We don’t usually leave the planet, you know. Recent events excluded.”

“You were the Grand Champion there, though,” Valkyrie said. “Parades and statues in your honor. Don’t see much of that here for you.”

“Thank god,” Bruce said, then shook his head. “The other guy isn’t quite as beloved here. Once I broke a city and they keep trying to bill me for it.”

“Want me to fix them for you?” 

“Probably more destruction wouldn’t help,” Bruce said. He shrugged. “It’s fine, I’m used to it.”

Valkyrie scowled at him. “No, you’re not. You loved the attention on Sakaar.”

“That wasn’t me,” Bruce said, then backtracked when Valkyrie rolled her eyes at him. “I mean, obviously it’s me, in another form, but it’s not… There’s a reason I call him the other guy. We share this body, but I don’t really remember what happens when he’s at the wheel.”

That was most of the truth. The connection between them had grown of late; Bruce had felt unerringly like he had known Valkyrie already when he’d first set eyes on her, so her confirmation that she and the other guy were friends had settled strangely with him. The other guy was gaining more cognitive function, and Bruce had an unsettling worry in the back of his mind that they might slowly meld together into something completely different.

It was more terrifying than the thought that he would lose himself to the other guy altogether. At least then nothing of Bruce would remain to mourn. 

“He’s not as terrible as you think,” Valkyrie said. “We’re friends, you know. Maybe he used to be a mindless beast, but it seems to me he was allowed to emerge so rarely that he was basically an infant. Now he’s starting to mature.”

“Forgive me if I don’t let him free more often,” Bruce said, the old familiar sarcasm falling easily from his lips. “I was too focused on how he ruined everything about my life.”

“And saved it, from what I’ve seen.” Valkyrie shrugged and stared up at the sky. She seemed unimpressed, watching the stars twinkle above with her mouth twisted into a disapproving scowl. It was beautiful to Bruce, but he wondered if it wasn’t dull to someone who’d seen the sights Valkyrie had. 

“Yeah,” Bruce said softly. “I’m glad he had you.”

“Don’t mention it. Ever.” The words had no heat behind them.

Bruce nudged her with his shoulder, half-expecting her to recoil at his touch but hoping he hadn’t misinterpreted her disappointment that he hadn’t patted her arm. “Something’s wrong. Spill.”

“‘M fine,” she said, looking mournfully over her shoulder at the empty bottle on the ground. “Why wouldn’t I be? All I wanted was to drink, be forgotten and die on Sakaar. Now I’m on a stupid underdeveloped planet and I don’t have anything left.”

“You have friends,” Bruce said, even though it was a stupid thing to say, especially to Valkyrie. She would and should mock him for it, but it had to be said. “You’re an amazing fighter. I’m like ninety percent sure Thor has a hero-worship crush on you. And you might not have anything left from before, but you have a future ahead of you.”

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. “I don’t want the future, I want---” She cut herself off, abruptly. “I’ve spent most of my life picturing how I wanted Hela to die for killing-- for what she did to me. I can never get it back. The future is stupid and I don’t want it.”

“Yeah, but it’s all we’ve got,” Bruce said. Valkyrie’s broken heart was obvious, and it was equally obvious she never wanted to acknowledge it ever, so Bruce honored her unspoken wishes. “The death goddess is dead, and you’re not. That’s something.”

He nudged her with his shoulder again, for lack of anything better to punctuate his pep talk with. 

“You’re an idiot,” Valkyrie said fondly before kissing him.

Bruce wished he could have been cool enough to not wave his hands in the air and say “Mmmmrph” into her mouth in a state of pure shock, but he just wasn’t. Valkyrie laughed at him as she pulled away. 

“Most people try their best to not startle me,” Bruce pointed out dumbly, because _Valkyrie_ had just _kissed_ him. On purpose. “Um. Thor is back at the celebration party?” 

“Good?” Valkyrie said. “Don’t really have to have his approval to kiss people, you know. That’s not how monarchy works.”

“I know. I mean. I just thought that Thor would be a more aesthetically pleasing kissing recipient?” Forget his PhDs, Bruce was an idiot.

“You’re definitely welcome to kiss him all you want, but I was more interested in you at the moment,” Valkyrie said, openly laughing at him.

Bruce had a bright moment of panic in which he thought What would Tony do? He knew exactly what Tony would do. He kissed Valkyrie so that she couldn’t make fun of him anymore. 

Granted, there were other reasons, too, mostly centering on how incredible and kick-ass and beautiful she was, but those reasons alone probably would never have spurred Bruce into action. Valkyrie obviously saw it coming, and had her leg swung over his lap, straddling him and kissing him back within seconds.

It was overwhelming, having someone launch themselves fearlessly at him, and Bruce never wanted it to end. The world narrowed down to Valkyrie and himself, mouths and tongues and hands.

Bruce lost himself in Valkyrie, secure in the knowledge that the other guy considered her a friend, that she was more than capable of protecting herself if his control slipped away completely. It was a heady feeling.

“Well, this is cozy.”

Bruce startled, pulling back from Valkyrie enough to see her roll her eyes. Standing on the path was Loki, leaning casually against a tree. Bruce wondered how long he had been there.

“Fuck off,” Valkyrie said, making a cartoonishly disgusted face at Loki. She did swing her leg over to settle down beside him rather than continue to straddle him. 

“I come bearing good spirits,” Loki said, holding up a bottle identical to the one Valkyrie had already demolished. Bruce was pretty sure he was trying to be funny, but that didn’t make him any less a murderous dickhead. 

“Don’t be stingy, then,” Valkyrie said, holding out her hand, but to both their surprise Loki handed the bottle to Bruce first.

“We all know that once it hits you, it’s gone,” he explained, and Bruce briefly wondered if it was poisoned. He took a drink, because it wouldn’t matter if it was. The other guy would come through for him.

Probably. Almost definitely, if Valkyrie asked nicely. 

He offered the bottle to Valkyrie after he was done, the liquor warm in his belly, and she wrapped her fingers around his as she took it from him, giving him a small smile that clearly said she was up for continuing their explorations once they got rid of Loki.

Loki, however, didn’t seem inclined to leave them be, as he settled on the ground across from them, leaning against a tree and somehow managing to look regal even when sitting on the forest floor.

“Just like old times, right? What did we call ourselves? The Revengers?” Loki said conversationally.

Bruce looked over at Valkyrie. “You’re hearing this, right? I think death knocked a few screws loose in that guy.”

“Can only be an improvement,” she offered, throwing a smug look towards Loki.

He scowled at them, then said in a confessional tone, “It turns out that some people hold a bit of a grudge for some regrettable actions I’ve taken, and it made the victory party unbearable. It was upsetting my brother.”

So Loki had left. It was oddly noble, even though Bruce totally agreed with everyone who’d make Loki’s party-going experience hell.

“We don’t like you either,” Bruce said.

“Former teammate,” Loki said, gesturing towards himself. “You’re too good a person to try to take me out.”

Valkyrie laughed, but Bruce could see the tension that had arrived with Loki ease out of her shoulders. “You may stay, but only because seeing Thor sad is like seeing a kicked puppy.”

Loki rolled his eyes, but his shoulders likewise dropped, and he loosely draped his arms over his knees. He was alone, too, Bruce remembered, with a destroyed homeworld and a past that no one would let him forget.

Bruce had friends, but he knew he’d changed -- he’d spent years as the Hulk, killing warrior after warrior in a fighting ring. He probably didn’t have a moral leg to stand on, even though his conscious mind didn’t remember it. 

Valkyrie squeezed his hand once, a promise that the night still held wonders ahead for the two of them alone, before she brought up the name of an Asgardian drinking game that made Loki’s eyes light up alarmingly. 

Bruce was pretty sure they were both going to cheat in outrageous and blatant ways. Not how he had pictured the aftermath of the battle going, but he found he was okay with it. There were definitely worse ways to celebrate.


End file.
